The poll was conducted Tuesday and Wednesday -- just before zillionaire Forbes dropped out and just after the Field Poll picked up the first McCain surge last week.

Among Republicans, the new poll found front-runner Bush dropping six points, from 55 percent support to 49 percent support.

A surging McCain, on the other hand, has moved from 20 percent support to 29 percent among the GOP faithful.

That leaves Bush with a still-formidable 20-point lead among Republicans, but the difference shrinks to a mere three points when crossover voters are dropped into the mix.

"It's still a month away, but there is certainly the possibility of a split result where Bush wins most of the Republican delegates, but McCain beats him in the overall popular vote," says pollster Paul Maslin.

None of this has been lost on Republican higher-ups who are starting to get jittery about the McCain phenom. The original GOP game plan had the Democrats slugging it out for the nomination, with Bush coming in unscathed.

"Now," as one GOP higher-up tells us, "It's Bush and McCain who are fighting it out under the national spotlight, and from the tone of things in the last couple of weeks, either one of them could go over the edge."

JOSE WATCH: Embattled Caltrans director Jose Medina has been working hard behind the scenes to try and save his job.

Word is, calls are coming in from the Legislature and even Congress lobbying Gov. Gray Davis on Medina's behalf.

"He's trying to turn it into a Latino thing, saying he's being picked on because he's Latino," fumed one Davis adviser. "Well, that's not going to save him."

Medina's got his defenders, who say he inherited a lot of his problems and has made some good changes at the transportation agency. But don't try telling that to Davis & Co., who say he's arrogant and incompetent.

"To tell you the truth, we ought to sue Willie Brown for malpractice, for having recommended him in the first place," the source said.

BEHIND THE SMILE: Don't read too much into that smiling photo op this week during which Oakland Mayor Jerry Brown joined school board members in publicly welcoming Dennis Chaconas to the job as the new superintendent.

The fact is, folks at City Hall are still fuming over the school board keeping them in the dark about Sunday's special meeting to name Chaconas.

"The mayor and I found out about it from a reporter," says Oakland City Manager Robert Bobb. "The president of the board (Dan Siegel) didn't even have the courtesy to say, 'We're scheduling a special meeting.' "

But he particularly loathes John Whitehurst, Robert Barnes and Mark Mosher -- the three lobbyists who raised and spent some $1.4 million to bash Ammiano's brains out in the last mayoral election.

"Swollen ticks on the underbelly of democracy," was how Ammiano described them.

Well, this week the boys shot back a reply of sorts -- Fed-Exing him a case of flea and tick collars.

"We wanted to thank him for the free publicity," purred bad boy Barnes.

SFPD BLUE: It's transfer time for the city's police captains, a nervous time fraught with favor and politics.

The gold ticket goes to Capt. Kevin Dillon, who moves from head of investigations to Central Station -- otherwise known as the "house of bright lights'' because of its location in the middle of fun-filled North Beach and Chinatown.

The biggest loser this time around is Capt. Dennis Martel who is being shuffled out to the airport after crossing Da Mayor with his election-year crackdown on South of Market nightclubs. Martel, who everyone agrees is a solid cop, has another problem. He was an ally of former Mayor Frank Jordan. Put it together, you have all the makings of his ticket getting punched for Siberia.

SURF'S UP: Embattled Port of Oakland President John Loh has quite an offer for the Oakland City Council and other political dignitaries -- a chance to fly to Hawaii this month as part of the the inaugural ceremonies for Aloha Airlines' new service between Oakland and the islands.

Only one catch: "Please be advised," Loh wrote, "that our port attorney has advised careful review of state constitutional law, which prohibits acceptance of free or discounted transportation by public officers."

In other words, elected officials are free to go as long they're willing to fork out the $399 in travel costs -- and report the "gift" Waikiki Beach hotel accommodations.

"Anyone going on this," says one local pol, "had better have their head examined."

This month, DeBartolo is finally due to take the stand at the closely watched trial of former Louisiana Gov. Edwin Edwards -- the man he says extorted $400,000 from him to ensure a successful vote on a riverboat gaming license.

As if all that weren't enough, now comes word that DeBartolo and his wife, Candy, have been hit with a breach-of-contract suit in sunny Tampa. They're accused of reneging on a deal to buy a $2.1 million mansion -- a place, mind you, that was supposed to be their temporary lodging while they built a new house for themselves in a gated community.

WILLIE WATCH: A local named Dan phones in from Paris with a Willie Brown update.

Dan says he and his girlfriend were dining at the George V Restaurant earlier this week when they looked across the way to see da vacationing Brown waving off photographers as he and a woman friend darted into a Mercedes dealership on the Champs-Elysees.